Desejar – Arts and Common Places Movement
Desejar – Movement of Arts and Common Places was an invitation to encounter, creation, experimentation, reflection, and debate around life and the arts.
Launched in 2024 through a series of regular assemblies, the project challenged citizens and communities to transform individual and collective aspirations into concrete actions. Through participatory methodologies and collaborative processes, Desejar fostered spaces for dialogue, imagination, and civic engagement, exploring new ways of collectively shaping the future.
From 10 to 14 June 2025, the project expanded into the public sphere through the Celebration of Desejar, described as “a festival that was not a festival”, but rather a laboratory for cultural democracy. Over five days, the city hosted performances, artistic walks, installations, performative actions, concerts, and conversations, bringing together more than 60 artists, researchers, thinkers, and activists from six countries, alongside approximately 800 participants.
Among the programme’s highlights were 85,755 t. by Allison Orr, developed in collaboration with workers from AGERE; Golpe de Asa; and a series of projects in motion, including Este Rio by the Guarda-Rios collective, Bloom & Doom – Poetic Manifestations by Caterina Moroni, and Percursos Afetivos by Cadu Cinelli. Particular emphasis was also placed on Assembleia em Estaleiro, a programme developed by the citizen group that formed the Desejar Assembly, as well as on the project’s contributions to critical thought and activism, featuring voices such as Jazmín Beirak and María Galindo.
The project was led by:
- Hugo Cruz – Artistic Director and General Coordinator
- Ana Bragança – Director of Participation and Communities
- Simone Almeida – Executive Director
- Carolina Bravo – Production Coordinator
Partners
Agere; International Community Arts Festival (ICAF); Ludoteca da Estufa; Praça – Mercado Municipal de Braga; Mexe – Associação Cultural; Associação de Moradores do Bairro Social das Enguardas; Sporting Clube Leões das Enguardas; Ficus Films; Festival de Les Arts Comunitàries de Catalunya (FACCC); Plataforma do Pandemónio; Tradição de Sabores; Academia Sénior do Município de Braga; AE Alberto Sampaio / Escola Básica de Nogueira; Antena 1; Antena 2; Associação de São José; Associação das Andorinhas; Bombos Santa de Vimeeiro; Braga Ciclável; BragaHabit; Bravos da Boa LuzM Centro Novais e Sousa; Conquista Vontades Associação de imigrantes Senegaleses; DisquePT; Espaço Invisível; Gerador; Grupo Desportivo de Santa Tecla; Grupo Teatro Planalto; MAC CCB; MC Madeiras; Musa – Associação Artística e de Intervenção Social; Need Cooperativa; Nómada Centro Artístico; Núcleo Volátil; Plataforma Passeio – UM; Robiallac; RTP; TUB; Tuck It; Umar